Hyundai Excel


The Hyundai Excel, also known as the Hyundai Pony, Hyundai Pony Excel, Hyundai Presto, Mitsubishi Precis and Hyundai X2, is an automobile which was produced by Hyundai Motor Company from 1985 to 2000. It was the first front-wheel drive car produced by the South Korean manufacturer. The Excel range replaced the rear wheel drive Hyundai Pony.

Background

The Excel was based on the second generation of Mitsubishi Mirage, but it was restyled to look different by Giorgetto Giugiaro. The Excel was available in three- or five-door hatchback and four-door sedan models. The Excel was the first Hyundai car to be exported to the United States.
The Excel was available with either a manual or automatic transmission mated to a four-cylinder engine aspirated by a carburetor or fuel injection system, depending on market and model year.
Originally, the Excel was supposed to be replaced by the Elantra in 1990, but it ended up being sold for four more years until being replaced by the Hyundai Accent in the model year 1995. From 1990, there was a coupé variant called the Hyundai Scoupe, which was replaced by the Hyundai Coupe in 1996.

Names

Some markets, including Europe, had the Excel branded as the Hyundai Pony, although it is not directly related to its rear wheel drive predecessor of the same name. In South Korea the hatchback version was known as Hyundai Pony Excel, and the sedan version was known as Hyundai Presto.
The Excel was also sold in the United States by Mitsubishi Motors from 1987 to 1994 as the badge engineered Mitsubishi Precis. Available as either a 3- or 5-door hatchback, the Precis remained in the Mitsubishi range as a "price leader," slotted below the Mirage until it was discontinued in 1992.

First Generation (X1; 1985–1989)

The Excel was introduced as a replacement for the Hyundai Pony. In the United States, it was the company's first and only model, but thanks to a price of $4,995 USD and being voted 'Best Product #10' by Fortune magazine, it set records for a first-year import by selling 168,882 units, helping push the company's cumulative production past one million by 1986. Similar sales success was replicated in Australia, where it was priced at A$9,990.
In Europe the car continued the Pony nameplate. It was much more modern than its predecessor with new engines, front-wheel drive and an all-new design. Available engines were 1,3 and 1,5 litre inline-four units, producing 66 HP and 71 HP. On the South Korean home market, the hatchbacks were marketed as "Pony Excel" and the sedan was called Hyundai Presto. The 1985 Pony was only sold as five-door hatchback in Europe. Unlike the first Pony Sedan, the Pony/Excel X1 Sedan had the boot separated from the passenger compartment.
Versions available were:
North America
Australia
United Kingdom
On most European markets, the Pony X1 was available in six configurations:
With the 1987 facelift, the Pony name got the XP suffix in Europe which was also found on the car itself. More important, this series saw the return of both the three-door hatchback and the four-door sedan in Europe. The 1,3 liter engine was discontinued, the 1,5 liter remained unchanged. In Europe, the LE was added as fourth trim level, this being the new entry level followed by the familiar L, GL and GLS models. All trim levels could be combined with all three body styles. An automatic gearbox was again available only on the GLS model.

Lineup

Brought as a new generation, the 1989 Excel was more like a next facelift. A new version of the 1,5 litre engine was introduced, with electronic fuel-injection instead of a carburetor. This 1.5 MPI produced 85 HP.
Most remarkable, the 1989 look was very short lived: with the 1990 model year yet another facelift appeared. Another notable fact was the renaming of the four-door Pony Sedan to Excel in Europe. This transition went gradually, for example in the Dutch 1989 brochure photo's of a Pony badged sedan are shown while the text refers to Excel. The 1990 brochure shows an actual Excel.
The 1.5 MPI engine was not offered in the five-door Pony. On the other hand, both the Pony three-door hatchback as well as the Excel four-door sedan came in a vast amount of models.
The second-generation Excel was given a facelift and slightly enlarged from 1990 onwards, while its engine adopted multi-point fuel injection, and a new 4-speed overdrive automatic transmission was offered.
The 1.3 model and the Mitsubishi Colt also share the same engine and gearbox.

1990 facelift

The Excel's 1989 styling was closely related to the all-new Sonata, which was launched in Europe for the 1989 model year. The mid-sized Sonata, successor of the Stellar, underwent already a facelift for the 1990 model year. The styling of the Excel followed in late 1991 to keep the resemblance with the Sonata. Most noticeable was the front end, where all three cars' orange indicator lenses were replaced by clear ones and the headlamps became less rectangular.
From 1991, the 1.5 versions were badged 1.5i to denote fuel injection.

Markets

It was sold in CX, LX and CXL trim levels in South Korea.
The South Korean range was:
All models sold in North America had the 1.5-liter engine producing and, with automatic transmission as a freestanding option for any model. The lineup available at U.S. Hyundai dealers was;
The 5 door model may have been available in Canada for a longer period and in a wider variety of trims. The Mitsubishi Precis came as a 3-door only, in trim levels equivalent to the base and GL Hyundai-branded cars.
Hyundai launched the Excel in Thailand in the early 1990s. The lineup consisted of:
The Excel was marketed in Eurasia as the Hyundai Pony or Pony X2. In the United Kingdom and some parts of Europe, versions available were:
However, some European markets did not get the 1.3 version and the range was:
The 1989 Pony and Excel models were most extensive of all European series.
Pony three-door hatchback:
Pony five-door hatchback:
Excel four-door sedan:
For 1990, the trim levels were reduced and simplified.

Third Generation (X3; 1994–2000)

When the Hyundai Accent was introduced in 1994 for the 1995 model year, it continued to be called Hyundai Excel in some markets, including the Netherlands, Belgium and Australia.
Also in Indonesia, the first, second and fourth generation Hyundai Accent sedans were sold as Excel, Excel II and Excel III. Based from lowest trim level and only sold for taxi companies.